Monday, October 3, 2016

Lightning then Snow

Thunderstorms yesterday and especially overnight made for some great entertainment and a nice prelude to the major weather change that is currently underway.  Cloud-to-ground lightning strikes detected by lightningmaps.org shows that both the Salt Lake and Utah Valleys got their share.  Stike densities were, however, much higher along a corridor extending from roughly Park City to near Evanston.

Source: lightningmaps.org
Temperatures dropped significantly overnight at all elevations.  Observations from the University of Utah show a somewhat stair-step like descent from a high yesterday in the high 70s to the current temperature of 44ºF.

Source: MesoWest
In the mountains, temperatures at Alta-Guard reached almost 60ºF, but this morning sit at a much more pleasant 27ºF.  Looks like the magic threshold for precipitation to change over to snow as crossed around 5 am MDT.

Source: MesoWest
Snowcams show the ground is once again white.

Source: Alta
I was planning on giving the Utah Golf team a special award for bravery this morning, but learned they are now in a weather delay until 1 PM.  Golfers are not all that tough after all.  
Looks like valley showers and mountain snow showers for today, especially the next couple of hours.  Enjoy!   

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